BJP Candidate Gadkari Projected to Retain Nagpur Seat in 2024 Lok Sabha Elections
The India Today-Axis My India exit poll has predicted a victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha election from Maharashtra's Nagpur constituency.
Gadkari, the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) and Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, is expected to defeat Vikas Thakre of the Congress party, a sitting MLA in the Maharashtra Assembly.
Gadkari has a strong track record in Nagpur, having won the seat in the previous two Lok Sabha elections. In 2014, he defeated seven-time MP Vilas Muttemwar by a substantial margin of 2.84 lakh votes. In 2019, he emerged victorious against Nana Patole, the current Maharashtra unit chief of the Congress.
The exit poll is based on a comprehensive survey of 5.8 lakh interviews conducted across all 543 parliamentary constituencies. It is important to note that exit polls can sometimes be inaccurate.
During the campaign, the BJP highlighted Nagpur's transformation into a developed city under the leadership of Gadkari and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which holds significant influence in the constituency, has also extended its support to Gadkari.
Historically, Nagpur has been a stronghold of the Congress party, but the BJP has made significant inroads in recent years. From 1951 to 2009, the seat remained with the Congress, except for brief periods when Forward Bloc and BJP held it.
The Axis My India exit poll also predicts a favorable outcome for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Maharashtra, with a projected 28-32 seats out of the state's 48 Lok Sabha seats. The INDIA bloc, consisting of the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), is anticipated to secure 16-20 seats.
